Shakespeare's Globe returns with a bold tradition where you get to choose, while various thrillers aim to keep you on the edge of your seat

3. The Spy Gone North

You won’t find action-packed scenes of the hero jumping out of a plane or window in this espionage movie. Centred on the deeply tense relationship between North and South Korea, The Spy Gone North gives us an old-fashioned historical thriller that’s inspired by the real experiences of Black Venus, a South Korean double-agent in the North during the 1990s. Not long after he’s kicked out of the military, Park Suk-young (Hwang Jung-min) gets tasked by the South Korean National Intelligence Service on a dangerous solo mission: infiltrate the North Korean elite and find out everything about the nuclear weapons they are developing. Park poses as a wealthy businessman, and his act is so convincing that he gets close to powerful leaders of the North’s economy and even scores a meeting Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. But when Park learns more about the upcoming national elections, his mission changes course and takes a more political turn. Suspenseful and incisive in its political commentary, the movie introduces international audiences to significant but lesser-known events in Korean history.